For items of furniture of various kinds, and in particular for chairs and office chairs and the like, pedestals having several, usually five, radial arms surrounding a central column which is connected at the top to the seat are widely used.
The radial arms of the pedestal extend radially for a sufficient distance to confer the required stability upon the chair.
Chairs or office chairs of different sizes and characteristics, for example fixed seats or seats with articulated joints, require pedestals of different diameters in order to achieve equivalent stability characteristics.
Pedestals of this kind are also used with the same or a different number of radial arms for items of furniture of various kinds, such as for example tables, occasional tables and the like, and individually appropriate pedestal dimensions are required for these purposes.
A convenient form of constructing such pedestals provides for an internal core of metal which is intended to support the applied load and a cover constructed of molded plastic material providing the core with the desired aesthetic characteristics.
The cores of such pedestals may readily and economically be constructed from metal components which are cut to length and joined together by welding, while the cover, which is destined to be the visible part of the pedestal, has to be moulded to the intended size in a single piece or in several pieces.
Thus in order to be able to construct pedestals of different dimensions it is necessary to have several different molds resulting in with an appreciable increase in costs.
Also the fit between the welded core and the moulded portions may not be satisfactory, and may give rise to difficulties in assembly.